Devotion - Chapter 28
Wednesday
"No one else would have sent me this message," I said.
Officer Daugherty shook his head. "This could be any bachelorette in this city. They're all jealous of you. There's a lot of crazy people out there."
"You're kidding right?"
"No. This doesn't mean anything." He handed the note back to me.
"What other evidence could you possibly need?"
"Solid evidence."
I tried to stay calm. Rob was working on getting that.
Hopefully he'd find something. I had pulled Officer Daugherty into the hallway that I had been talking to Rob in so that no one would overhear us.
But this wasn't going the way I would have hoped.
Maybe he'd listen to what I had to say next.
"Rob and I have both felt like someone's been watching us. "
"We have a team outside the hospital. Melissa isn't allowed within 50 feet of the building."
Still not working. "What I mean is that someone in the waiting room is feeding Isabella information. Or there's a camera or something."
"Mrs. Hunter, I don't know how many times I have to tell you that Isabella isn't..."
"Okay. Fine. Then not Isabella. But someone is telling whoever has been sending me these notes what's been going on here." And it's Isabella!
He nodded. "Could be. I'll ask everyone a few questions. See what I can turn up."
"Thank you."
Officer Daugherty glanced at his phone. "Looks like there was no record of that shipment with UPS. It must have just been someone that was dressed like a UPS guy."
"Aren't there cameras in this hospital? You could probably get an angle of his face. Run it against your system?"
"You've been watching too many crime shows. How about you leave the detective work to us? And I recommend you get some sleep."
Condescending asshole. "Thanks, Officer Daugherty."
***
"I heard what you said to Mason. You're not weak," James' father said as he sat down next to me.
I kept my eyes on Officer Daugherty. He was having a conversation with Jen.
It definitely wasn't Jen. Or anyone else here.
What had I been thinking? None of these people would betray me.
I sighed. "You don't know me very well." It was a cold response.
But I was trying to focus. I was trying to see if anyone was texting or slipping away too often for the restroom.
"James came to our house once a month for the past two years trying to convince us to meet you. I know more than you think."
I turned toward him. "Really?"
"He didn't tell you?"
I was starting to think that James still didn't tell me a lot of things. "Not exactly. He told me he was trying, though."
"He was pretty relentless, in fact."
I smiled. "That sounds like James."
Jon shifted in his seat. "I owe you an apology."
"You don't. It's between you and James." I wasn't going to interfere anymore. I just wanted James to wake up. I just wanted him to be happy.
"No." He shook his head. "Well, yes, but I'm not talking about that right now." He awkwardly cleared his throat. "When Susan and I were in the room with James, something came up. I know it wasn't the time or place to confront her, but at the moment it seemed necessary."
"You were arguing in his room?" I had left James alone to hear his parents screaming at each other. To hear the chaos that he grew up with and so badly wanted to escape.
"Yes, but..."
"Why would you do that? The doctor specifically said to talk to him quietly. Not yell."
"I'm sorry."
"Why? Why couldn't you put your son first for five seconds?"
"It's not what you think. I was trying..."
"No, that's exactly the point, Jon. You weren't trying."
He lowered both his eyebrows. I hated how much it reminded me of James.
I hated how that small action made me want to forgive him, to comfort him.
But Jon wasn't James. Rob wasn't James. James was back in surgery.
With a DNR and no more chances. My husband was dying.
And his own father's yelling caused it. His parents screaming at each other.
I refused to sit here and listen to Jon's lame apology.
Because I didn't have it in my heart to forgive anyone.
"I don't think he stopped breathing because we were arguing. What I was trying to apologize for was that we moved our argument out of the room."
"He was alone when it happened?"
"I'm so sorry."
He was alone? Tears pricked at my eyes. Mason was wrong. I couldn't lean on any of these people. Because none of them seemed to have James' best interests in mind. Any one of them could have been conspiring alongside Isabella. Any one of them could be the enemy.
"Penny, if you would just let me explain," Jon said.
But I was already walking away. I needed to be alone in my grief. I needed to be alone in my weakness.